Decayed Mirrors
by Storyteller Balthanax
Summary: Anduin and Sylvanas, after a successful siege on Stormwind. One Shot.


**HOWDY FOLKS.**

This is essentially something I thought up to write in the spur of the moment after an idea struck. One Shot, all that Jazz, let's get into it.

Basic Summary- a future where the Horde, somehow, manages to win the war outright. Sylvanas personally raids the keep and shoots the final arrow that slays Anduin.

For whatever reason, she then chooses to ressurect him.

Almost instinctively, ragged gasps filled his broken lungs immediately after the sudden surge of suffering ceased. The small area between the Library and the Keep was littered with debris and scarlet fragments of cloth and plate. Sorrow continued to surge and grab at his throat as he lay idle, gazing around wildly under what seemed to be a film that covered his eyes, lighting everything in a yellow light.The courtyard around the area was littered with bodies of guardsmen and attackers alike.

Anduin had never felt so wretched and dirty. Horror returned it's cold grip as he finally seemed to hear the crackling of flames- and the quiet, chilling laughter of a spectral voice he had rarely heard, only once, during the fall of Garrosh.

"Awake, little lion?"

Sylvanas sneered at him, crimson eyes glittering in an unnatural mirth. "Good to see you've returned to the realm of the living. I was beginning to think my skill in ressurection had begun to slip." She walked around the fallen boy-king and squatted down beside his head.

He could only manage an angry, defeated glare from his position- he felt far too weak to move. "It was a bold move, taking my Undercity- but your bold confidence would only carry your armies so far before you were outclassed. The clock had begun to tick when you took Lordaeron- and now, the buzzer's rung."

Anduin coughed and rasped. "Can I ask one thing," he managed outwards as the Warchief circled around him in a predatory manner. With a cruel, sharpened smile, her lips parted in the elegant manner of the elves as she responded- "yes, then?"

"Why start a-" he coughed, reaching a hand to grab his chest in pain. "...a war? Peace was an- an option, we- ...it didn't need to end..."

"The answer is simple." She sat beside him and gazed at the sky above. "Your people and mine have been at odds with each other since before you were born, boy. They both lusted for each other's blood, unrelenting until they found a greater evil to unite against- but in the end, the cycle of hatred always turns back on itself."

"So I made the move before you would, to prevent further assaults and death, crimes against my people, my horde, after you took my Undercity. And here we are- trying to secure a future for my people, the Forsaken."

Anduin gave a throaty laugh. "I can understand. You just wanted to give them salvation." Sylvanas shrugged. "In essence."

"It's all I've ever wanted...for Azeroth, even as a boy, peace and unity to fight our enemies together, as a world. Even as a boy, I dreamt of bringing salvation to the world- but it was discovered that I could not do so, no matter how hard I tried, in Pandaria, of all places."

"I heard of your encounter with Garrosh. You did not benefit, did you?"

Anduin laughed, managing what he could past his sorrowful frame. "Saying that I got hurt would be an understatement. Though, it broadened my perspective, I suppose."

Sylvanas paused. "In the end, the both of us wanted to help our people- to keep them safe and to guarantee our futures, and yet...only one survived- unless, Anduin-"

"Join my Forsaken," she offered. "Together, we could continue to foght, side by side, procuring a future for Lordaeron, Stormwind and Beyond-" But she halted there, seeing the frown on his face.

"My time has ended. I ask that it stay that way- please, Sylvanas..."

Pausing for a moment, her cruel exterior melted away as she nodded. "Take your rest, Wrynn. Join your people in your light." She sat beside him, moving his head over her lap as she drew a dagger aimed for his forehead.

"...Thank you."

And the world went black.

END


End file.
